


They Said You Can't Buy Love, Now I Know You Can Rent It

by likeasouffle



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Klaine Break-Up, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:31:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7220587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeasouffle/pseuds/likeasouffle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt is awake in the night, is doing Just Fine, and is definitely not thinking about Blaine. (Takes place during season 4, shortly after The Break Up.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Said You Can't Buy Love, Now I Know You Can Rent It

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the [Tumblr post.](http://likearumchocolatesouffle.tumblr.com/post/146019882850/fic-they-said-you-cant-buy-love-now-i-know-you)

Kurt gets tired of staring at the ceiling at 4:03am and gets up to take a shower.

Maybe he’s not doing as well as he’d thought; this has been happening more and more lately. Chase from work had said he could give him the leftovers of a prescription that will help him sleep. Not technically an approved use, but Kurt doesn’t have a doctor in the city yet. He should take him up on it.

Kurt gets into the bathroom, turns on the water, finds it cold, as it always is in the middle of the night, and takes off his clothes. He sits on the edge of the tub, turns the tap all the way to hot, and holds his hand under the water. It’s freezing, and it doesn’t seem to be improving.

Maybe he’s the first person to use the hot water today, and the water heater saves energy by not bothering to turn on until it’s requested. He had always thought of an apartment building as being a kind of microcosm of a city, and in the City That Never Sleeps, his building should be bustling with energy at all times of the day and night. People should be just getting home from bar-hopping, or getting up for the early shift at a call centre, or up all night working on their screenplays. He realizes that he alone might make up the sum total of the nightlife in his building. He waggles the fingers of his now very cold hand under the water. How depressing.

He had read an article online once that said if you’re awake in the night, you should just lay in bed until you fall asleep again, because it’s the resting that’s important, and the time you lie there will still give you energy for the day. But that’s so _boring_. He’s never been a patient person, so if it’s not going well he just gives up on it. He’s going to be tired and grumpy either way, so he might as well be tired, grumpy, and productive. In charge of his own destiny.

Maybe it’s broken. If he knew where the water heater was, he’d be willing to bet he’d be able to fix it. It’s just a machine, how hard could it be? But he’s probably not allowed, as it doesn’t really belong to him. He rents, he doesn’t own, and it’s not his job to fix it. That’s when the water starts heating up.

He steps under the water and turns the taps to the middle so he doesn’t burn himself when the heat really gets going. As he’s rinsing himself off, he starts to cry. Not really for any particular reason. It’s probably the fatigue, or the frustration of waiting around for the water to warm up. No one can see him. He just goes with it, and washes his hair.

Afterward, he towels off and heads to his bedroom area to check his phone. His adrenaline spikes in the moment before the screen lights up, but there are no notifications. Probably because normal people aren’t awake at this time of night. He mentally congratulates himself: he’s been awake for hours, and he hasn’t thought about Blaine at all. He’s thought about the water, the heater, his lack of sleep… but not about Blaine.

He shuffles over to the kitchen to make coffee. No, caffeinated tea. He’s doing just fine, thank you very much. Just fine.


End file.
